War Against Lawlessness
Russian President Vladimir Putin with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero in the Black Sea resort Sochi, host of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
Putin: Disregarding the Principle of Territorial Integrity Would be Highly Irresponsible
After the meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero, President Vladimir Putin spoke about Russia’s position on the future of southern Serbian province of Kosovo at a media briefing in Sochi.
“Regarding Kosovo, the position of the Russian Federation has not changed recently. We stand for the earliest possible start of a direct dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina. We don’t consider it sensible to limit future negotiations and put them in a Procrustean bed of a time schedule. We think it should be a free dialogue, the aim of which should be a search for an acceptable compromise for both sides. We will maintain contact with all the participants of the process, in the first place at the UN. We will also be in constant contact with both the European Union and the United States,” Putin said.
Head of the Russian state invited the international community to “refrain from undermining the principle of territorial integrity of the states,” noting that such approach would be “highly irresponsible.”
“The principle of territorial integrity defended by Russia in the Kosovo situation concerns many states, and we think that it would be highly irresponsible to disregard this principle,” he said.
Premier of Spain expressed expectation that the sides involved in search for the solution of Kosovo province issue will not resort to unilateralism, stressing that solving the issue of Serbian province “requires consensus of the parties involved and the United Nations approval.”
The overall conclusion of heads of two states was that Madrid and Moscow “share not only many common projects and goals, but political viewpoints as well.”
European Foreign Ministers Encouraged by Washington’s Consent to Restrain from Unilateral Moves After December 10
Ahead of the first face-to-face talks between Serbia’s State Negotiating Team and the representatives of Albanian separatists from Serbian province of Kosovo-Metohija, Contact Group foreign policy chiefs met in New York, according to the Serbian press reports.
The U.S., British, French, Russian, German and Italian foreign ministers — Condoleezza Rice, David Miliband, Bernard Kouchner, Sergei Lavrov, Walter Steinmeier and Massimo D’Alema, respectively, met for just over an hour.
During the meeting, Lavrov has openly demanded from his Western colleagues that they stop prejudging the outcome of the negotiations and claiming that Kosovo province’s independence was inevitable, the media reported on Friday, referring to diplomatic sources.
The European representatives have been, allegedly, encouraged by Washington’s consent to restrain from any unilateral movements after December 10.
Contact Group’s Official Statement Reaffirms Resolution 1244
An official statement from the meeting yesterday expressed the Contact Group adherence to “a harmonized solution to the Kosovo status, which would be approved by the UN Security Council,” Tanjug reported.
The ministers said they were “determined that such a solution be reached, which would be sought through negotiations and which would be adopted by the UN Security Council,” a joint statement issued after the meeting specified.
The foreign ministers concluded at their late Thursday meeting that the principles of the Contact Group from November 2005 should continue to represent the framework for the process of the Kosovo status settlement, which, as specified, was based on UN Security Council Resolution 1244.
The Troika diplomats — Russia’s Aleksandr Botsan-Kharchenko, the EU’s Wolfgang Ischinger and Frank Wisner of the United States presented a progress report on the negotiations so far. The meeting was also attended by EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn and NATO Secretary General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer.
Russian Foreign Minister: Unilateral Moves Would Lead to Instability
In his address at the 62nd UN General Assembly, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs reaffirmed Moscow’s firm support for the international law and the principle of territorial integrity.
“The settlement of the Kosovo problem is only possible within the framework of international law based on negotiations. Unilateral steps will not lead to a lasting peace and will create a risk of destabilization in the Balkans and other regions,” Sergei Lavrov said.